Your Stories

I never thought sexism at work was an issue until a male colleague opened my eyes to the existence of inequality and sexism. Ironically, a few minutes later he rubbed my back tried to sleep with me but that’s another story. Here are my experiences:

• as an F2 on call I received a very odd bleep from my registrar who wasn’t on call and was at home. He was asking me bizarre things about a patient before saying “let’s go for dinner”. As an Fy2 it’s hard to know how to react especially as there’s a power imbalance.
• again, as an fy2, I knew a colleague was sleeping with a senior. I was on call with him when she called and he described what I was wearing and how good I looked. I felt uncomfortable and disgusted and worried how my colleague-a friend-would feel.
• I got a choice of two jobs part way through my training. I emailed a TPD to get some advice as couldn’t decide which to do. I got a reply “growing up is hard to do”. Well, they didn’t know how old I was, what I’d been through (not much incidentally) and I felt this was irrelevant.
• I was told as a female with children I shouldn’t work on certain units and to work in “Unit x or y as the people there have children so will understand”. I’d never mentioned how my child would fit in to my career and I worked full time so not sure where this came from. This was in a meeting with a man with children who worked on a certain unit. Clearly men with children are allowed! As an extra issue, the unit where people did have kids weren’t always understanding either.
• my pregnancy was described as an illness (?!)
• I was told that another female colleague probably wouldn’t join my speciality as she has children…like that should matter and also, they clearly assumed I didn’t want children.

In the COVID19 pandemic I was allocated to a new role and team. I was upset to find that my new senior would be a consultant who had sexual harassed me during my foundation years, but I thought that given that we were in the middle of a pandemic he might not repeat the behaviour. On our second day we were sat having lunch and he wanted to show me his new Ultrasound pen – to demonstrate how the device could stream images to your phone. Once I was holding it he moved my hand and told me I should be holding it like a sex toy instead. I didn’t challenge him as we’d be returning to the acute ward after lunch. On talking to another female senior, I was informed that he was known for this behaviour, that he’d got away with so much before and he was capable of ruining careers.

I was an FY1 and was in my first medical job. I was doing a taster week in the speciality I wanted to do, and I got told by one of the senior members of that speciality that the reason why the NHS is failing is because of female doctors. Because apparently we all want to go part time and the NHS can’t cope. Not only is >50% of the ENTIRE hospital work force female, but this was very presumptive that all females want to go part time, and that this has any impact on work productivity.

A male patient with a history of aggression (which wasn’t known to me) was transferred to the unit where I worked. The unit is miles away from the main hospital site and is nurse led. There were no doctors or male staff working on the unit at the time. The patient was abusive towards me , other patients and staff, but particularly me. I later discovered he had been the same towards another female staff member at a previous unit. Apart from the verbal abuse, he used his walking stick to threaten me, pushing it towards my face. The man attended the unit 3 x week for treatment. The man’s abuse and aggression towards me, other female staff and poorly patients continued for over 5 years. Incident reports, either verbally or through IR1’s and datix were submitted but no action was taken to remove the man elsewhere. The patient’s consultant tried to deal with the patient and also senior management There was no duty of care towards me and others from those in positions to do something to protect us. I left the NHS after 37 years due to my line manager and senior management (including Board level) being unsupportive and involving others in attempting to undermine me. Trying to break staff, rather than supporting them when faced with male abuse and aggression, seems to be the thing to do in the NHS towards staff who expect and deserve a safe and respectful working environment.

While working a male HCA would try to hold my hand and hug me, despite me saying no repeatedly. At the end of our shift he asked me what way I walked home. I had to lie and say the opposite way, because I did not wanna walk to the bus stop in the dark and possibly having him follow me.

On placement at medical school in breast surgery, sitting in a clinic. Male breast surgeon examines a number of female patients in the afternoon clinic. Looks at the list and the next patient is a man, he sighs turns to me and says “I prefer the young ladies”!

As a junior surgery trainee, the cardiothoracic consultant at the operating table suggested that I improve my finger dexterity, “maybe by masturbating more”. Nobody in the room objected – Registrar, anaesthetist or scrub nurse. When I later complained formally, I was told that it was my word against his, because ‘no-one else could remember anything’. This was one of a string of similar incidents affecting me and other female trainees and medical students.